This weeks emotion is Panic. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Panic?
Here are some prompting questions.
How do you know someone is panicked?
What do they do that indicates they are panicked?
What do they say and how do they say it?
Do they have involuntary responses?
Is there a physical response to Panic that only the person experiencing it is aware of?
All insight is appreciated!
Very good prompts! Physical shaking is probably more noticeable to the person panicing. Also, the blood rush in the ears and the fast heart rate.
ReplyDeleteha ha ha I do have experienced with people panicking..the victim is my aunt, she experiences certain rush every time my mom is late to get home..that's so annoying, lol
ReplyDeleteWhen I see blood, I panic!
ReplyDeleteuncertainty in life makes one panic, yet any one can overcome that situation through clear thinking, I believe.
ReplyDeleteI think of someone with wide eyes who keeps looking around at everything (or maybe at his/her watch?) all the time.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a stutter in the person's speech (one that's not normally there).
Pacing.
Talking fast.
[I have limited skill and experience, but allow me this comment sub-standard though it may be.]
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect to the previous comment, it is my belief that when approached by some immediate threat, wide eyes may be a sign of panic, but it would be accompanied by tunneling of vision to focus on the point of origin of the source causing the panic.
So, when writing about it, it would be best to describe a lack of sensory input from the rest of the surroundings except the source of panic and its immediate surroundings.
For example,
"He looked at the bomb with fear. The time of lit fuses was long gone. Instead, it was the age of timers and electronic triggers. The timer count down continued but there was no sinister 'beeping' sound as they show in the movies, just the silent assurance of death if he did not run right that moment. Yet he stood rooted to the spot with an almost hungry look on his eyes, feeling almost as a moth attracted to a flame and what a flame it was !
In this moment of panic, all his training had deserted him. Sirens wailed in the distance but he could not hear them properly. His mind was blank. He tried and failed to summon the means of averting this disaster. With seconds left, muscle memory from hours of practice kicked in. Mechanically, he removed the screws and got access to the wires. Tracing the line of the electronic trigger he brought up his pliers to clip them delicately.
Suddenly, life returned around him. Light, sight and sound. The police bomb squad had won."
I know that it does not convey the feeling of panic that well, but a calm and reserved attitude is often possible.